Reproduction Of Pathos Beauty In Xu Yuanchong’s Song Ci-poetry Translation In Perspective Of Translation Aesthetics

Poetry is the art of feeling, and feeling is the soul of poetry. Under the aesthetic atmosphere where pathos was taken as beauty in the Song Dynasty, as a more appropriate expression of pathos than Tang poetry, Ci-poetry was naturally becoming the first choice for poets to express their feelings. Song Ci-poetry is a literary form for lyrics. and feeling expression is one of its major function, thus works of Ci-poetry are always full of touching feelings. Meanwhile, Ci-poetry is also a literary form endowed with tragic color and a great many Ci-poetry works radiate the appealing beauty of pathos.Song Ci-poetry, a gem of the5000years’Chinese history and culture, is also a shining pearl in the world cultural heritage. Since today is the age of cultural exchange and integration of all nations, Song Ci-poetry translation plays an important role in spreading Chinese traditional culture. In previous study of Song Ci-poetry translation, scholars mainly focus on the content, subject matter, theme and language when studying the translation of its literariness, relating to such elements as image, artistic conception, metaphor, symbol, rhyme, rhythm, color and so on. As to the emotions and the feelings, especially the pathos embodied in it, they rarely pay attention to. There are few books or essays related to the study of pathos beauty reproduction in English translation of Song Ci-poetry, which might be slightly mentioned in some case studies of the translation of some particular poets. Taking the English translation of the Ci-poetry created by Li Qingzhao, a great female poet in the Song Dynasty, as an example, some scholars connected the emotion and feeling in her Ci-poetry with aesthetics in their studies, but it is regret that they didn’t explore into depth on the beauty of emotions or feelings.In view of the present situation, the author attempts to make a systematic study on the pathos and its aesthetic value in Song Ci-poetry on the basis of the aesthetic qualities of Song Ci-poetry itself from the perspective of translation aesthetics. The research objective of this thesis is to find out why Song Ci-poetry is a literary form endowed with tragic and sentimental colors, i.e. pathos, how pathos is formed and expressed and how pathos is reproduced in translation by the efforts of translator.This thesis makes a comparative study on certain Song Ci-poems and their English versions translated by Professor Xu Yuanchong and reveals that Professor Xu Yuanchong succeeds in reproducing the pathos beauty of the source text. The author tries to approach the artistic reproduction of pathos beauty in Professor Xu Yuanchong’s English translation from two angles based on translation aesthetic theory proposed by Professor Liu Miqing:aesthetic reproduction of the formal aesthetic values (including phonetic, lexis and syntax) and aesthetic reproduction of non-formal aesthetic values (including image, artistic conception and so on).This thesis intends to provide a relatively systematic analysis of the pathos in Song Ci-poetry and its aesthetic value and attainments to prove that it is necessary to reproduce it and it can be reproduced. The translation of poetry is not just to represent the meaning but also to reproduce its unique beauty. Therefore, it is far from enough for translators to only convey the original works’beauty in meaning, sound and form. They should also try their utmost to reproduce the beauty of feelings and emotions so that the target text readers can enjoy the similar aesthetic experience as the source text readers do. The author hopes that the study made in this thesis will serve as "the brick to attract jade" for the further development of the study and practice of Song Ci-poetry translation.